Freezing Leftovers


 
M

Matt Y

TVWBB Member
Hey TVBB,
Has anyone ever tried to freeze leftovers? I wanted to freeze some leftovers with my vacuum sealer for the long winter months.

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

Yes, all the time. In fact yesterday we did 3 tri-tips, 3 racks of pork ribs, 5 pounds of carna asada, and 5 pounds of polo asada. All except the ribs went into freezer bags (don't have a vacuum sealer, yet). Normally everything reheats well with no loss of texture or taste. We reheat using steam. At one time, tried the microwave but that overcooks it.
 
A vacuum sealer is the ONLY way to go. It pays for itself during the first year. I use it for whole coffee beans, shredded cheese, block cheese, meats, breads, leftovers, etc.... I currently have 4 racks of back ribs, a 4-lb cured and smoked pork belly (ready for bacon slicing) and 2 lbs of sliced bacon in vacuum-sealed bags in the freezer. I've also got a collection of cooked and uncooked rib steaks, flank steaks, burger, chicken and various other foods sealed, labeled and dated. My wife thinks I go a bit overboard, but I'm probably set for the next Armageddon....

Advice: For many meats, freeze them first, THEN vacuum-seal them. This keeps the vacuum sealer from sucking the juices out of the meat before freezing. I just took rib steak out of the freezer that I grilled last summer. I slow-thawed it in the fridge for a couple days then threw it on the grill to heat it up! It tasted perfect!
 
Great tip Ron - i'll freeze first, then vacuum seal! What do you use to freeze the meat first? Just a ziplock bag?

thx Chris!
 
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Matt Y: For cooked meats, I usually wait for the meat to cool a bit, loosely wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer. As long as you don't seal the foil air-tight and you vacuum-seal the next day (or 6-8 hours later), you will not get any moisture ice build-up on the meat. I could use the ziplock bags, but they are too expensive. A 20-pack of gallon ziplocks costs as much as 100' roll of foil. If you are concerned about the foil sticking to the food, use a little non-stick spray on the foil before freezing.

For raw, store-bought meats, I'll freeze them in the store packaging. Then, I'll poke a few holes in the store packaging and put the whole package (Styrofoam tray and all) in a vacuum sealer bag and seal it up. I can then see the weight, date and product type on the store label. Takes all the guesswork out of knowing what's in a package in the freezer.
 
I love my vacuum sealer. It has saved me tons of money and time in just the short period I've owned it (couple years).
 
Ron A said:
Matt Y: For cooked meats, I usually wait for the meat to cool a bit, loosely wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer. As long as you don't seal the foil air-tight and you vacuum-seal the next day (or 6-8 hours later), you will not get any moisture ice build-up on the meat. I could use the ziplock bags, but they are too expensive. A 20-pack of gallon ziplocks costs as much as 100' roll of foil. If you are concerned about the foil sticking to the food, use a little non-stick spray on the foil before freezing.

For raw, store-bought meats, I'll freeze them in the store packaging. Then, I'll poke a few holes in the store packaging and put the whole package (Styrofoam tray and all) in a vacuum sealer bag and seal it up. I can then see the weight, date and product type on the store label. Takes all the guesswork out of knowing what's in a package in the freezer.
Click to expand...

Very cool I will have to try your method.
 
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